Gymnastics training requires a variety of strong athletics skills, including balance, strength, flexibility, and graceful movements. One basic skill for any competitive gymnast is a handstand. Additionally, gymnasts must perform various actions while entering into or maintaining a handstand, such as handstand turns, jumps, or “walks.” Therefore, it is necessary for a gymnast in training to develop confidence when entering into, maintaining, and coming out of handstands. The gymnast must further be able to perform these maneuvers while on any of various gymnastics apparatuses.
Currently, a trainer or spotter assists a training gymnast while the gymnast is learning a handstand, as the gymnast is likely to lose balance. Without a trainer or spotter, the gymnast may have a higher risk of suffering injuries. Therefore, at least one trainer or spotter is typically available for each gymnast practicing a handstand. When a trainer is working with multiple gymnasts at once, the trainer would need to spot each individual gymnast. This either causes long delays while the trainer spots each gymnast, or limits the size of class the trainer can teach. Furthermore, even when a gymnast has learned the basic handstand, the gymnast must practice it on a variety of apparatuses, such as a floor mat, a single bar, parallel bars, a balance beam, or still rings. If the gymnast must practice these maneuvers while actually on the apparatus, it prevents others from also training on the apparatus.
Therefore, a need exists for a device that can support gymnasts in keeping their balance while learning handstands such that a trainer need not always be available to spot the gymnast, and allows the gymnast to practice on a variety of apparatuses.